Monday, June 02, 2008

Spiritual schwag, spiritual schwagPut a bunch of you in a bagTake you homePut you on a shelfThen I’ll transcendMy illusory self

Spiritual schwag is, of course, all the dumb spiritual crap you find in New Age bookstores and the like. Healing crystals, little amulets, those little bracelet thingies with the beads on ‘em…

Maybe it’s because I came into this whole spiritual teacher thing ass backwards. I never really wanted to be a spiritual teacher or, even worse, a spiritual leader. I assume a lot of guys in this game did. That was their childhood dream. They practiced in front of mirrors and wished and hoped and eventually they realized their dream. Good for them.

Last Saturday at our weekly Zazen meeting at Hill Street Center a discussion broke out among the usual ten people who show up concerning how we might expand our operation. I told the people there that I had no desire to do anything of the sort.

A couple of these folks had gone a few days earlier to the other side of town to check out another Buddhist teacher. They were amazed to find that he got between 75 and 100 people to show up and meditate with him every week. How come we only ever got ten? And how come we were still renting a place when we could gather up donations and buy a permanent Zen center of our very own?

But there are problems with this kind of thinking. For one thing, Zen practice is never gonna be popular. Well, never say “never,” right? But it’s not gonna happen any time soon. And that’s fine. Even if 75 people showed up at Hill Street, there would still only be ten who were serious, plus 65 people who came to be entertained. And I’d rather not deal with those other 65 people getting in the way and making a mess.

The only thing those extra people really contribute is extra money. And the only reason you need that extra money is to make a facility that can accommodate those extra people. It’s like a snake eating its own tail.

So far I’m earning my keep through my writing and through my work in the movie biz. I’m happy with that situation. When it comes to writing, I want to sell as many books as I possibly can. I’ll promote that stuff till I’m ragged and run down. No problem. Buy some books. There’s a link right over to your left so you can order ‘em from Amazon. Or be a better person and buy them from your local bookstore. Go click on the link to my Suicide Girls articles ten times right now to make folks think I got a lot of readers. Buy, buy, buy!!

But my practice is pretty much a personal thing. It’s helped me and I’m glad to make it available to others. But I’m not trying to sell it. I sit on Saturday mornings and if people want to join me, good. If not, also good.

The only way I could see myself ever trying to earn a living as a spiritual master would be if I couldn’t get a real job and my books stopped selling. In other words, it would be an act of desperation. While other people tend to look at spiritual masters and ascribe lofty motivations to their actions, I tend to see them as desperate, needy people, a bit like the homeless guys who wash your windshield at a freeway off-ramp and try to get you to give ‘em quarters for it. But, then again, we all do that. We see someone doing or saying something, we imagine what conditions would make us do or say that kind of thing, then ascribe those motivations to those people. That’s why so many folks read my stuff as angry, I think. They can’t imagine themselves ever saying, “fuck” unless their blood was just boiling and assume I must be the same way. Which is my way of saying that even though I tend to see professional spiritual masters as desperate, I’m aware I could be mistaken.

Maybe someday I’ll open some kind of a center. I don’t rule out the idea entirely. But right now I’m not very interested. Plus, even if I did open up a place the stance we’d take would be the same; we sit at a certain time of day and you can join if you want.

I always get a kick on how “environmentally conscious” people like to buy quartz crystals dynamited by underpaid natives in the Amazon forest and chemical aroma + glue incense sticks made by Indian child labor.

It seems to me that there is no need for a "great commission" when it comes to Buddhism. I suppose those who are really serious about practicing zazen will subsequently "find" the practice themselves, without any missionaries. At least I did.I think you'll be able to find so much Buddhist-stuff on the internet nowadays that making an effort trying to "spread the word to the ignorant" would kind of be a waste of time …

It would seem that the idea of the "great commission," if it exists at all in Buddhism, would be something very different from that of Christianity.

As Buddhist teachers have pointed out over and over, the only person that has responsibility for your enlightenment is you. A person attempting to make you "see the light" is, in effect, attempting to take part of that responsibility away from you. So, proselytizing wouldn't fit the Buddhist mold.

So, as far as I know, with the exception of the modern phenomenon of Soka Gakkai (which, I believe, was influenced by Christianity), Buddhists don't proselytize. Even my own sangha has a sign on the door: "Those arrive are welcome. Those that leave are not pursued."

Okay, some zen teachers peddle words, others tea, and yet others...well, it begs the question, if the product (schwag, bric-a-brac, lingerie) serves all beings with a clear mind mirror, what's the difference? I might interject a poem from one of my favorite Zen teacher/poets, Baisao (17th, 18th c). This is from "Three Verses on a Tea-selling Life" taken from The Roaring Stream anthology.

So over at "We Angry Buddhist" (a new blog by Harry) I learn there are three 'poisons' (Anger, Desire, Ignorance). And here I learn that if people are being poisoned (i.e. by ignorance) 'true' Buddhists are fine with letting them die before offering any antidote.

Analogies of the "great commission" aside, how can one claim compassion with such a state of play.

Not to say proselytizing is the way to go, but if the benefits of zazen are real, and the whole enchilada is not "schwag" then it seems it would be the right thing to do to package the "true Buddhist" message/lesson/truth/hint without BD and pass it on from time to time to some ignorant (in the Buddhist sense) person who might benefit.

There is a difference between "enlightenment" and "benefit". There's only about 2% of the worlds population (and most probably quite a few less) who could ever understand the true meaning (the schwag-less meaning) of enlightenment, and I'll wager that no one at all thought of enlightenment a-priori and knowing it to be a Buddhist idea went to learn more at a Zendo.

To me the schwag is all the feel-good, privileged, intellectual BS surrounding the idea of what we are in the universe (as the universe). But if Zen can't be explained simply, and directly to some poor Burmese farmer how do you know you're on to something (all you Buddhists)?

If you can't build it from the dung and drudgery that most people live in, you've got it wrong.

Maybe if Brad established his zen center in Burma the 65 extra people would be there just for the juice and cookies after zazen...but could they find some benefit from the zazen itself? Could it be explained what benefit they might get? "Never mind your gangrene and starvation, Mr. farmer, if you sit zazen for 30 minutes each day, you will benefit because, you see there's this idea of non-thinking you really need to get a hold of and...blah blah blah"

I believe I can understand the schwag-less truth of Zen and the benefit of zazen. I think it's similar to this idea of "true Buddhism" that Nishijima-roshi speaks of, but if the nut of the matter can't be conveyed without fantastic intellectual gymnastics...yikes! We are all still poisoned by ignorance!

I got hooked to Zen by Brad's books because they had that schwag-less nut appeal. (I regret this post makes me seem like a schwagless nut).

Ooo, some posts seem to strike home closer than others, eh? I'm one of those people suggesting we grow both DSI and Dogen Sangha Los Angeles (DSLA is the informal group that regularly attends Brad's zazen class).

Whether Brad makes a living at being a spiritual teacher doesn't matter to me. He's a big boy and has gotten along fine till now. But if DSI or DSLA could afford it, it seems right to offer him a monthly stipend. If he didn't want it that's fine too.

I value this practice, my life is better because of it. I read Nishijima Roshi, in 'To Meet The Real Dragon,' saying that it's time to start a new conversation between True Buddhism (sorry!) and the West, and I believe we should offer it to as many people as we can. I think fewer than 65 of the 75 will be tourists. And though I don't want to proselytize, I do want to organize. So here's a sermon:

The Blessed One, full of compassion, looked with the eye of a Buddha upon all sentient creatures, and he saw among them beings whose minds were but scarcely covered by the dust of worldliness, who were of good disposition and easy to instruct. He saw some who were conscious of the dangers of lust and wrong doing. [snip] I shall not die until the pure religion of truth shall have become successful, prosperous, widespread, and popular in all its full extent-until, in a word, it shall have been well proclaimed among men!"Sacred-Texts.Com

I do feel that the assumption that any students in addition to your 'serious ten' would be non-serious and just there for the scenery. Granted it is more than reasonable to assume that some (or most) of them would not be serious students, however it also seems very unreasonable to just assume that reaching out to others will yield only the slackass students.

I imagine that many people were introduced to Buddhism and became serious students because of your (or others) books. Therefore there is an established precedent that in fact when reaching out to people you will, in fact, grab serious students.

I suppose my point is that I see it as a little of a downer in that the fear of gaining loser students trumps attempting to reach any additional serious students.

if you really intend to establish a center you should take into consideration to offer 10-visit-tickets (like for public pools). I was surprised how good this works.And I have to admit that I'm one of the persons who ordered your books recently. Now I wonder whether my big dictionary with about 500 000 translations will assist me while reading.

Are you sure that you don't like being a spiritual teacher, Brad? That you don't like having people read your books and your blog, and listen to you talk, and Suicide Girls pay special attention to you? And that you don't like hearing people tell you that you're smart and cute and funny and wise and whatever else you've been told since you started your Zen teaching career? I'd be damn surprised if you didn't.

My guess ('cause I'm not him) is that Brad likes being Brad. I don't think he particularly likes being a 'spiritual teacher.' I don't think he particularly dislikes being a 'spiritual teacher,' but if he were to stop teaching tomorrow I don't think he would mind. I guess he would pretty much continue doing what he does now, except for the teaching part.His teaching (the flavor I get from it), isn't a body of work which stands separate from the person he is.His person is his teaching, as such it is personal and slow.Well, you know how long it takes to get to know another person....really know them..... A good while! The longer I've gotten to know Brad, the more I've found that he is just himself--exactly as he was the very first time I met him, only more so.

My guess ('cause I'm not him) is that Brad likes being Brad. I don't think he particularly likes being a 'spiritual teacher.' I don't think he particularly dislikes being a 'spiritual teacher,' but if he were to stop teaching tomorrow I don't think he would mind. I guess he would pretty much continue doing what he does now, except for the teaching part.His teaching (the flavor I get from it), isn't a body of work which stands separate from the person he is.His person is his teaching, as such it is personal and slow.Well, you know how long it takes to get to know another person....really know them..... A good while! The longer I've gotten to know Brad, the more I've found that he is just himself--exactly as he was the very first time I met him, only more so.

There was a time when Brad would write about '2 or 3 regulars'. Likewise, brad often puts a plug on here for his weekly session.So in a few years it has increased by 500%!!!!

But even so, no-one here is going to argue that 30 minutes staring at a wall once a week is sufficient to make any big impact on your life.

Zen Buddhism is never going to be a mass-market product when it's not being sold as a religion (bells, whistles, dresses and hats).

In the end all that Budhism can offer is some useful lifestyle tips (8-Fold Path, Precepts) and to allow you to see where the truth about yourself (and reality )might lie.

Most people don't want to know the truth. Many who sit regularly in Zazen still go to great lengths to avoid the truth.

So, let's say that Brad is some supreme being put on this earth to help the rest of us. Ha!

What is there that he can teach that cannot be found in a book, available for free from a library, or on the internet?

In tradition the role of a 'teacher' is to point. Or perhapas it's more clear to say what he does is jump up and down and say "yoo hooo! I'm over here!!!!"

A very large part of that is the teacher simply being him or herself. When a teacher sets out a stall he is in part selling Buddhism but in part he is selling "you could be like me" and "Buddhism has helped me to be me. It could help you too".

Not everyone has to run away to a monastary or dress up in funny clothes to practice Buddhism (SG's do PLEASE keep dressing up ;-) ) and there is a lot to be said for propogating the truth that Buddhism can help you to lead your ordinary everyday life a little better.

I sit just about everyday at a Zen Center that I'm luckily walking distance from.

I wake up and sit at 6 A.M. and then again in the evening at the Zen Center. I don't sit at the Zen Center on Sundays. On Sundays there are about 75 people there. In the mornings and evenings there are about 10 or less. I like when there are less people. It's quiet.

I've been sitting for 2 years everyday. I have no Idea what Zen is. I was diagnosed with severe manic depression early in my child hood . Sitting is very painful for me. Sitting has helped me. Now I sit with my depression. The more I sit the less depressed I feel. So it seems.

Hey Brad(and everyone. Slightly off topic from this discussion, but I thought you'd like to know that a documentary film will be in Cleveland on August 2 atTHE CLEVELAND CINEMATHEQUE11141 East BlvdCleveland, OH 44106(216) 421-7450The movie is called the Dhamma Brothers about how buddhism helps rehabilitate a group of inmates. It's based on Vipassana. You can see the trailer here:http://www.dhammabrothers.com/trailer.html

Tosui was a well-known Zen teacher of his time. He had lived in several temples and taught in various provinces.

The last temple he visited accumulated so many adherents that Tosui told them he was going to quit the lecture business entirely. He advised them to disperse and go wherever they desired. After that no one could find any trace of him.

Three years later one of his disciples discovered him living with some beggars under a bridge in Kyoto. He at once implored Tosui to teach him.

"If you can do as I do for even a couple days, I might," Tosui replied.

So the former disciple dressed as a beggar and spent the day with Tosui. The following day one of the beggars died. Tosui and his pupil carried the body off at midnight and buried it on a mountainside. After that they returned to their shelter under the bridge.

Tosui slept soundly the remainder of the night, but the disciple could not sleep. When morning came Tosui said: "We do not have to beg food today. Our dead friend has left some over there." But the disciple was unable to eat a single bite of it.

"I have said you could not do as I," concluded Tosui. "Get out of here and do not bother me again."

I have found that “reluctant” teachers (and managers) are often the best ones. They often end up in their positions because they are able to do it well… and not because they have a desire to do it. I have found that the desire to become a teacher (or whatever) is often based on a fantasy of what it might be like to be in that position. And, of course, real life seldom lives up to our fantasies. I have found Brad’s writing to be mostly free of desire. Because he has relatively nothing to lose, he is able to expose the bullshit that many zen teachers (who have made a career out of Zen) are afraid to face.

When I was younger I was into spiritual schwag for a while. I bought a few little Buddha statues. I still have them. But they are merely decorations in my house. When I was younger I found that observing my favourite Japanese Buddha statue helped me learn the correct posture for sitting. And I found that the silent stillness embodied by the Buddha image reminded me to let my mind quiet down. I was aware that I was just using it as a tool. Also, I found that the Buddha statues prompted questions from friends. Many of them assumed that Buddha was a god, like Jesus… or that I prayed to the statue. So I felt that I was able to share my knowledge about Buddhism with them… and maybe prompt them to investigate Buddhism further. But I think this might have been my way of triggering a battle of spiritual one-upmanship… which was pointless ego gratification. Now, I mostly keep my Zen to myself, unless someone asks. I find that Buddhism “invites” people in, simply by providing a good example. When someone is ready, they will see the qualities they want to embody in the people around them, and will seek it out. Eventually, they will find Zen.

BANGKOK (Reuters) - A Thai Buddhist monk cut off his penis with a machete because he had an erection during meditation and declined to have it reattached, saying he had renounced all earthly cares, a doctor and a newspaper said on Wednesday.The 35-year-old monk, whose name was withheld for privacy reasons, allowed medical staff at Maharaj hospital, 780 km (480 miles) south of Bangkok to dress his wound, but refused reattachment, hospital chief Prawing Euanontouch said."We cleaned up the wound, gave him some stitches, but he declined to have it reattached because he said had abandoned everything," Prawing told Reuters by telephone.Prawing declined to comment on the monk's erection, which Bangkok-based Kom Chad Luk tabloid reported on its Web site.

Wow! Sounds extreme, but then again, it's sort of in keeping with all those ancient zen examples of loping off your own hand for no logical reason. Also reminds me of that apocryphal story of old Sid offering a hunter his arm for dinner to spare the life of a bunny. Smacks of the Sermon on the Mount too (Matt 9:47). Still bugshit crazy though, but almost admirable in a perverse, pious way...But to get back on topic, I think the Venerable Odo "No Sweat" Roshi's keep-it-simple, DIY approach to his "spiritual teacher" role is a breath of fresh air.And so what if he doesn't edit his posts to make himself appear enlightened and above the miserable failings that plague the rest of us lowly shits? Thank fuck that he doesn't! His refusal to kowtow to the semi-divine trapping of his ordained status is what keeps me reading him.

If Brad has a group of 10 people that benefit from what the practice then that is 'helping the rest of us'.

If Teacher X has a group of 100 people that benefit from the practice then that is 'helping the rest of us'.

Buddha went first to the 5 hermits in the park because they would understand his teaching. He did not run to the biggest city he could find and preach in the market square.

There are many 'skillful' ways of teaching the Dharma. This is why we have so many (apparently) different styles of Zen throughout history. Bankei talks directly to me in a way that Brad does not. That is not to say that Bankei is right and Brad is wrong.

Stephanie said... eardrum: I have found Brad’s writing to be mostly free of desire.

Have you been drinking from the Kool Aid, Mr. Drum? Because it seems to me you have been.

Sure Stephanie, Brad is always trying to sell books ad CD's and such. He does have to eat, after all. We all work for our supper... or, for those who don't (monks, welfare recipients), someone else works for their supper. I see Brad's business dealings as being separate from his zen writing. I know that they are connected... but at the heart of Brad's zen writing, I sense that he is trying to impart some truth - just because he wants to share it. Just because it is the right thing to do. Zazen seems to lead us to do that sort of thing. Maybe there is a part of Brad that enjoys having fans of his music, books, talks. Maybe we all do? Maybe that is part of the attraction of being a musician and a writer? But don't we all want to be loved? Aren't we necessarily social creatures?

Hmmm... in thinking more about this while I write, maybe I'm full of crap when I say Brad's writing is "free of desire". Maybe it is impossible to write without desire being a part of the motivation. But I stick to my guns about the heart of the matter. I think he writes about the truth of reality just because it feels right to do so. I think zazen encourages purely altruistic acts. It has done so for me.

Thanks Stephanie, for making me think about this. It is making me question my motives for doing things. Interesting...

Maybe there is a part of Brad that enjoys having fans of his music, books, talks. Maybe we all do? Maybe that is part of the attraction of being a musician and a writer? But don't we all want to be loved? Aren't we necessarily social creatures?

That's all I'm saying. That Brad, like any of us, is human. And, being human, wants attention, love, and approval from other human beings. I see nothing wrong with this. I love human beings and human being-ness. What bugs me is when people try to deny these human motives; what I see when I see that is self-deception, what the existentialists called "bad faith."

I've had my issues with Brad as a Zen writer off and on over the years, but I also find something truthful to his teaching style (as well as entertaining) that keeps me coming back. My main beef with him, though, has been and continues to be with a seeming insincerity that rivals the truth in what he says. He criticizes other people who claim to know "the truth," but then argues that he knows it; he demands that people question him and all teachers but does not seem that dedicated to questioning himself. Of course, pretty much all of us do this, but not all of us put ourselves in the position of Zen teacher (which Brad also does a paradoxical dance of rejecting and embracing at the same time).

Another example is how much energy he expends declaiming his interest in attention and fame when to me it is dead apparent that he likes and wants those things, and has ever since he started playing rock and roll. If Brad could just admit, "I want you all to pay attention to me and I know you suckers never will stop paying attention to me 'cause I'm so funny and sharp and entertaining, so suck it up, babies, while I enjoy partying with the Suicide Girls," think how much more irritating, annoying, entertaining, and sincere he would be as a writer.